A fiery threat to our safety and way of life

STEVE SMITH

In July 1999, about a year after I made the decision to become a

full-time writer, I was given an assignment by Kevin O’Leary, then

editor of O.C. Metro magazine, to dig up the dirt on the commercial

nursery business. I visited a few local nurseries and got a pretty

good education. Then I decided to take one more tour of a nursery in

Fountain Valley.

On that visit, all was going about as well as could be expected.

There was, after all, no scandal in the commercial nursery business

-- only the usual problems common with every business: staff issues,

state regulations, supplier problems and such.

Then, shortly before I was ready to leave, I asked one of the

owners what challenges they faced in the future.

“Fire ants,” he replied.

“What?” I said.

“Fire ants,” he said again. “We have to certify every plant

against fire ants, and it’s causing a lot of trouble.”

The more we talked, the more I realized that my nursery story was

toast. The real story was fire ants.

I called my editor from my cellphone while I was still at the

nursery and told him what I’d heard there: that if something wasn’t

done soon, Southern California would be overrun by fire ants. I

offered him no proof other than my interview notes with the nursery

owner. But he told me later that there was something in my voice that

caused him to give me the green light.

“Follow the story,” he said.

What I discovered was scary. The red imported fire ant now causes

more than $1 billion in damage per year in the southern states. Some

counties in Texas, Georgia and other southern states have had

quarantines in effect for years to stop the ants from spreading. But

by the time I was writing about this in 1999, it was already too

late. The fire ants had won.

Thanks to the infestation of fire ants, backyard barbecues were

becoming a thing of the past in many southern counties. Instead,

residents wheeled their barbecues onto the street, where they could

cook and enjoy a cold one without the fear of being bitten by these

ferocious pests.

Ah, those bites. According to research at Tulane University:

“Fire ants quickly attack anything that disturbs their nest and

unlike bees, they are able to sting repeatedly. Red imported fire ant

stings usually result in the formation of a white pustule, which

takes 10 days to heal. If the pustule ruptures before healing, the

wound and surrounding area may become infected. Sensitive individuals

may have an allergic reaction to the stings, perhaps resulting in

anaphylactic shock or, in extreme cases, death.”

In other words, fire ants take no prisoners. They swarm all over

anything perceived to be a threat and sting over and over again until

defeated or until their prey is dead.

But wait, it gets worse. Fire ants are also prolific breeders.

More from Tulane:

“The ant is a ‘generalist’ species, which means that it has the

ability to rapidly adapt to a variety of conditions. Additionally,

generalists species tend to have high reproductive rates. Queen ants

live up to seven years and lay a large number of eggs. The average

number of workers ants in a mature red imported fire ant colony is

200,000 to 300,000 individuals. New queens disperse up to 1 kilometer

to begin a new colony. Just 15 to 18 weeks after the new colony is

established, more queens are produced. This high population growth

rate in combination with a lack of natural predators allows the red

imported fire ant to easily colonize uninfested ecosystems.”

But wait, it gets even worse. In one of the most shortsighted

bureaucratic blunders of all time, the California Department of

Agriculture dropped its funding for fire ant control last month,

ending a $5.2-million program it began in 1998. That was a cheap

price to pay for the benefits.

I cannot paint a picture ugly enough of life with the fire ant. If

you play golf, you can start training for another sport because your

courses and all their water are prime nesting spots for fire ants.

Does your home have electricity? Fire ants damage electrical

components by either chewing through insulation or by carrying soil

into components.

And be prepared to give up your backyard, front lawn and any other

nice area of your property you now enjoy. Plus, you’ll have to pay

very close attention to your kids, particularly babies and toddlers,

who will not be able to run in a park or on the grass at your home

without the threat of being attacked.

In the past, I’ve asked you to take action against a variety of

threats on our lifestyle, particularly on issues that affect our

children. But there is no more immediate threat to the future of our

lifestyle than that of the red imported fire ant.

Please call your county supervisor, state Assembly member and

state Senator and demand -- not ask -- that fire ant eradication

funding be restored immediately. You can find the contact information

in the white pages of your phone book.

For more information, visit the fire ant website at Texas A&M;

University: https://fireant. tamu.edu/.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.